Karlovy Vary Names Renowned Hungarian Director Head of Jury

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has announced that Hungarian filmmaker István Szabó (the Oscar-winning "Mephisto," "Being Julia") will serve as the head of the international jury at this year's festival. The 2011 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival runs from July 1-9.

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has announced that Hungarian filmmaker István Szabó (the Oscar-winning "Mephisto," "Being Julia") will serve as the head of the international jury at this year's festival. The 2011 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival runs from July 1-9.

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) is honored to announce that multiple Oscar-nominee and -winner Hungarian filmmaker István Szabó will preside the international jury at the 46th KVIFF.

"Nine years after having presented his film 'Taking Sides' at the 37th KVIFF, Mr. Szabó will be back at the Festival. We couldn’t be more thrilled to have such a distinguished and legendary artist heading the Festival´s jury," said Karel Och, KVIFF’s Artistic Director.

Being the only Hungarian director with an Oscar-winning film ("Mephisto," 1981), Szabó has been acclaimed by the international press from the very beginning of his career. At that time he drew on the experience of his own generation and Hungary’s recent cinematic history: "Father" (1966), "Lovefilm" (1970), and "25 Fireman’s Street" (1973). In 1980, the Silver Bear Winner "Confidence" (1979) was subsequently nominated for an Oscar.

Szabó’s international reputation grew with his next three films, a historical trilogy inaugurated by Mephisto. The film was honored with an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film as well as Best Screenplay at Cannes. The following two films in the trilogy, "Colonel Redel" (1985) and "Hanussen" (1988), were subsequently nominated for an Oscar.

With this newfound fame, István Szabó began working in the West and with numerous acclaimed Western European and American actors from: Glenn Close in "Meeting Venus" (1991); Stellan Skarsgård in "Taking Sides" (2001); Annette Bening in "Being Julia" (2004); and most recently, Dame Helen Mirren in the yet-to-be-released "The Door" (2011).